Woven cotton fabrics do not shrink at the same rate or in the same direction.

Some shrink mostly lengthwise, some shrink mostly crosswise. Very few shrink at the same rate in both directions.

From the hundreds of fabrics that I measured, before and after washing, the amount of shrinkage varied from none that I could detect, to over two inches (on a 42 inch width) and over 2 inches per yard in length.

And that was before I started soaking the fabrics in hot water/

I pre wash all fabrics when I get them home. I wash everything I own in cold water w/ cold water tide and 3-4 color catchers. Always works for me.

Here's how I feel... if the finished project is something that is going to typically washed ( pillowcases, baby quilts), it makes sense to wash the fabric first. Wash it with a color catcher.

If it is something that generally won't be washed (a wallhanging, art quilt, purse), there is less need to pre-wash your fabrics.

The only exception would be a striped or linear print fabric. I have found washing causes the stripes/lines to get crooked and you'll need to cut it off grain, so you may want to skip washing these.

I wash all fabrics that come into the house - but that's because of the chemicals on the new fabric irritates my hands. And also, because I have had fabric shrink, discolor and lose its body. I don't buy cheap fabric but weird things can happen and I want to know it before I put it into a project. (I even wash pre-cuts.)

Oh don't you hate that? Yes has happened to me as well. I just had a gal come into the LQS with a frown on her face...she broke her rule of washing a light fabric with a dark aqua...yup the blue migrated to the light fabrics. We learn and relearn....

I wash everything I quilt with, it's a habit I got into years ago when I first started out. I don't machine wash, I hand wash, I feel like I have a little more control over it and I can actually see if one fabric is a bleeder or not. I know there are color catching sheets available, I don't quite trust them to tell me the whole truth all the time, but that's my hang-up. So, I hand wash and if I get one that's going to bleed too much, I'll put it through the machine.

I wash everything unless it's for a wall hanging.

I guess for two reasons...colour fastness and to get the shrinkage out of the way.

Watson

I wash all fabric (that is washable) before cutting into it and making a quilt. Some colors will bleed excessively (batiks) and some not at all. Please either wash or not wash all the fabrics used in the quilt. A few fabrics still shrink too. MHO

How interesting. My experience is that batiks bleed less than other fabric because it has to go through at least one wash cycle after dying at the factory to remove the wax resist that makes the design.

I pre-wash all of my fabrics before I start a quilt. I made a black, white and red quilt for my grandson and when it was washed it did not bleed thank goodness. If I remember right-I washed the black and red fabrics twice.